Al Qaeda touts defeat of U.S.-trained Syrian rebel fighters, denounces ‘Western-backed cancer’

A Dutch Islamist fighter posted an online statement Tuesday boasting of how his al Qaeda-linked group defeated U.S.-trained rebels in Syria.

The fighter wrote Jabhat al-Nusra, the al Qaeda-affiliated group that is fighting both Islamic State militants and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, would not tolerate America’s “long filthy capitalistic arm” interfering in their war, The Telegraph reported.

The fighter described the attacks on U.S. Division 30 as a victory that “granted us valuable lessons, like the fact that these groups are the last hope for the U.S. in getting grip on the ground.”

Division 30, whose members were the first to pass through the Pentagon’s training program for rebels from northern Syria, fell in the face of a barrage of attack in recent weeks.

After several Division 30 rebels were captured and other killed by Jabhat al-Nusra, the brigade fled its headquarters in the Syrian city of Azaz on Sunday, retreating into Kurdish-administered territory, The Telegraph reported.

The Dutch fighter, calling Division 30 a “Western-backed cancer,” bragged that “fighting these slaves of the U.S. is sweeter than fighting the nusayriya (regime loyalists,” The Telegraph reported.

Meanwhile, Senior U.S. defense officials confirmed Tuesday that five Free Syrian forces, also trained and equipped by the U.S., have been captured by al Nusra fighters.

The capture on Monday raises the number of Free Syrian rebels that have been killed, captured or wounded in the past week to 14, out of a total of 54 that have been trained by the U.S. military, NBC reported.

Officials said there was no opportunity for U.S. jets or armed drones to intervene. The U.S. military has not indicated it is preparing to launch a rescue mission for the five recently captured fighters.